Sharing the Blessing: Overcoming Poverty and Working for Justice. Kathy Galloway

by Kathy Galloway

In Sharing the Blessing, Kathy Galloway offers a reflection on the spirituality and practice of working for justice and overcoming poverty, both local and global. As people of faith, we are called to speak out against all which distorts or diminishes the image of God in human beings. Yet working for global justice requires patience and persistence: change is slow, difficult and often costly. Sharing the Blessing is about how you can be part of that change. It will encourage you to think spiritually and creatively around issues of economics, globalization and migration. By putting a human face on huge social problems, which can so easily seem abstract and distant, you can more easily connect these issues with your faith. Here you will find practical suggestions and spiritual guidance that will help you to make a real difference to those suffering from injustice and poverty.

Genres: Theology

95 pages, Paperback

First published April 2, 2008

Reviews

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

There aren't many books that I can say, honestly and earnestly, have changed my life but this is one of those books!

Sharing The Blessing is a wonderful mix of encouragement, eye-opening facts, and spiritual reflection on what to do with both of those things. I originally started reading this book as part of an action research project for my theology degree where I was looking at how a church is changed by involvement in social action. However, what I discovered brought home just how far my church is from understanding the real difference social justice makes both in the world and to those involved in it and I was less than halfway through this book when God called me out of the church I was in.

The introduction to this book had a profound effect on me, looking at the idea of being born into complicity. The way the world is structured prevents justice from happening to those who are most vulnerable and this book opened my eyes to the truth of how I was feeling: that I needed to be part of a community that did something because by doing nothing we were complicit in the injustices of the world. Thankfully, the book didn't stop there and went on to explore how change can occur and why we have hope.

One of the best parts of this book for me is the mix of gentleness, particularly in storytelling and reflections on God, with sentences of great power. Some of the facts and thoughts Kathy Galloway shares in this book left me in tears and have set alight a fire in my soul to stand up and be counted, especially at the times when I feel alone in doing so.

I recommend this book if you are searching for something more in your faith than Sunday hymns and Bible reading. Sharing the Blessing is one of those books that you know could change the world, if only people (particularly churches) would read it and take it on board.